A Woman Shared A Moment She Helped A Female Stranger Escape A Stalker And The Responses Are Chilling

On July 12, Gabriella Rich, 22, from Old Bridge, New Jersey, shared a brief encounter she had with a stranger the night before. The woman had approached her discreetly and asked her to pretend they knew each other, because she thought a man had been stalking her.

Last night some girl came running up to me whispering “please pretend to be my friend this man has been following me for 6 blocks” as soon as this guy saw me hugging her he said “fuck” and went the other way. Please ladies stay safe and never walk alone!

One year ago, 21-year-old Savannah Stuple of Radford, Virginia, was packing her car at around 11 p.m. when she noticed a man lurking. He then began talking to and walking toward her.

@BlkCarmenSDiego @gabriellarichh Omg one night I was packing my car to move and some man parked across the street, got out of his car and started talking and walking towards me. I ran inside so quick locked the doors and my car and turned the lights off. As soon as he left my ass did too!! Creep.

Regina Acheampong, 34, of Charlotte, North Carolina, can relate. She shared a story of when a man began following her, first by car, then on foot, in broad daylight through a park.

@gabriellarichh It’s such a scary feeling. A man stopped his car and parked at someone’s house and proceeded to follow me when I was walking my dog. I tried to ignore but he kept yelling and pursuing me. I’m trying to work out in my head what tactical moves I can make if he tried it. Scary!!!

"I knew it was a more serious thing to go out of your way and start following someone," said Acheampong.

A month ago, she noticed a man had intentionally parked his car to approach her as she was walking her dog near her house. She said he started following her, and began yelling, "Why are you ignoring me?" and "I'm trying to talk to you."

Acheampong said she felt forced to lie and tell him she was in a relationship.

Thoughts began running through her mind: "What do I do if he tries to attack me? My dog is not a big dog. This is broad daylight."

"The anxiety or fear of being attacked — it changes how you move through this world. It’s really sad."

Regina Acheampong

She said she could count a number of other times, especially in college, where she felt unsafe by a man's persistence or stalking. As a result, she carries a weapon with her, she admitted.

Acheampong, who's in the process of launching a blog about wellness and mindfulness, believes "there's value in sharing your story."

"If we don't share our stories, there's no healing, there's no growing, there's no learning," she said. "It may urge people to correct their behavior and understand the impact of their behavior."

Another woman, Cassy, shared a story from when she was a teenager. She said she only noticed a man had been watching her when her dog began growling at him. "I'd never seen my dog act in such a way," she said.

@gabriellarichh @tommoftlawley There was one time I was walking my dog in my neighborhood in broad daylight, and this man was parked in his car staring at me. My dog (who is the friendliest giant ever) began to growl in the most strangest way, and didn’t move from in front of me until the guy sped off.

Cassy, who's 20 now, said she didn't even fully process what the man was doing and why she'd felt so off until she talked to her parents about it later that day.

"Women should never feel small in that kind of situation...but sadly that is how it is and how it's always been," she said.

In another terrifying incident, 19-year-old Melanie Alvarez described a situation in which she was actively harassed and chased until she literally ran to her friend. She said she even felt guilt and "regret" for walking alone.

@gabriellarichh One time I was 15 yrs old walking in front of my apartment complex to meet my friend half way from her house &amp; this guy kept following me &amp; offering me drugs/money. I ignored him &amp; paced faster when I turned around I saw that he had jumped the fence to get behind me so i ran-

Sofia Ferreira, 22, said she's also had to flee a stalker when she was only 16. She recalled a "[chilly] feeling when you get scared."

@BlkCarmenSDiego @slstuple_ @gabriellarichh when i was in high school i was walking home in the afternoon, &amp; a van followed me for a block or two, turned where i turned slowed his car down and told me to get in the car i said no and he kept following me and told me to get in again and immediately stopped the car, i dipped!

Ferreira said she repeatedly had to tell a man "no" after he asked — then urged her — to get into his car when she was walking home.

"You just never know what the other person is capable of," she said of the scary encounter.

Ferreira wants people to know that sharing these stories is "important" so "people don't feel alone."

Sofia Ferreira

"It happens so often and it’s really sad people can’t walk anymore without feeling worried for their safety," she added.

Kiana Catrina Kenton, 19, from San Antonio described an encounter she had last year that involved both a man and woman seemingly preying on her and her friends. "I knew that if that man had taken us that night, I might not have been alive today," she said.

@gabriellarichh omg one time me and my three friends wanted to go downtown to just hang and some van started reversing. when we stopped, they parked and a man and a woman got out the car and started walking towards us. when we started to walk away, the man started running at us full speed

Deanera Barrow, a 22-year-old from Ypsilanti, Michigan, said the tweet brought her back "to that exact moment" she had to be a cover for a woman who she noticed was being followed.

@gabriellarichh @Smilyfaceshay This really happens. One day I saw this girl walking alone and this man was following her for like 2 blocks so I walked up to her, told her why and dude just crossed the street and went the other way. Shit really not safe